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Category Archives: Teaching writing skills
Visualizing conversation
Imagine you are creating an everyday conversation of a fairly happy couple lunching at an outdoor café. The idea is to make it sound ordinary but still drop in some clues about the problems looming just beyond the horizon. However, … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged dialog, Emotion, Facial expression, Paul Ekman
1 Comment
Transformations
For a recent assignment, students were to examine an advertisement. Questions led them to look at the visuals: subject of emphasis, originality of image, the placement of objects, type of people pictured. Then, they examined techniques such as use of … Continue reading
Vibrant verbs
Writers can throw around the terms used to describe interesting language – sensory images, unusual syntax, well-developed descriptions, and vibrant verbs. But incorporating these into writing and preserving the flow is a challenge. Recently I worked with some nascent writers trying to … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Verb, words to replace said, Writers Resources, Writing
1 Comment
How to play the words well
Do a little bit of research on the internet and you will soon come up with vast lists of literary devices in addition to the ones that I have discussed. But it is too overwhelming to start employing them all. … Continue reading
The speed signs for writing
The way we string together words and the type of words we use contribute to the “pace” of writing. Longer sentences with a plethora of subordinated clauses provide an intellectual sound to the writing. The reader takes more time to … Continue reading
Order matters how?
While diction determines word choice, syntax determines where the words are placed. Language without syntax are words strung together with no method to the madness–in other words, nonsense. Our normal syntax mimics what we have heard before. Unique syntax requires mixing … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Sentence (linguistics), Star Wars, Syntax, Writer's voice
3 Comments
Tone of voice
Tone of voice… you have probably heard this phrase used frequently, such as in “I don’t like your tone of voice.” As a child I often assumed that phrase was the adults’ way of reprimanding someone whose statement was not … Continue reading
Write or wrong word
Diction is one of the building blocks of voice that pushed far enough can become a two-edged sword, making the written word dangerously inaccessible to readers. When teaching Shakespeare’s plays to students I frequently pointed out that it was not … Continue reading
Voice, deconstructed
Voice in writing can be best defined by breaking it down into its components. But the problem remains that voice is comprised of different things, depending on who you ask. According to the Texas TAKS writing rubric, voice is demonstrated … Continue reading
The writer’s voice
When people speak they produce many different signals that the audience can interpret: facial expressions, gestures, and timbre of voice can add to the meaning of the words, or reverse them. For example, a person saying “Good job!” in a … Continue reading
Posted in Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource
Tagged Creative writing, Voice, Writers Resources
1 Comment
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